Derived from information published by physician Juan Manuel Luna, regarding the availability of up-to-date vaccines against Ómicron variants in Guatemala, the epidemiologist and former head of the extinct Presidential Commission for COVID-19 Emergency Care (Coprecovid), Edwin Asturias , He stressed that the version applied in the country also offers protection against the virus compared to the original immunizer.
According to Asturias, the bivalent BA.1 vaccine that is administered in the country protects against Omicron and subvariants, “both bivalent vaccines, both the one with BA.1 and the one with BA.4/5, are an advantage over the original vaccine.” .
Luna recently explained on his Twitter social network account that he has verified the Moderna vaccines applied in Guatemala and explained that the two used are specific against Ómicron and superior to the initial boosters, but do not have BA.4/5 which is the most up-to-date .
And that’s the way our healthcare system is, compliant with leftovers, not thinking about what’s best for people because those kinds of details don’t bother the authorities. #EditorialLH https://t.co/67Y6f2jaZm
– La Hora Newspaper (@lahoragt) January 5, 2023
“The latter against BA.4/5 is the only one effective against the new variant that is causing the crisis in Turkey and the United States (XBB.1.5),” he explained.
His position was expressed in the note “Doctor: COVID-19 vaccines in GT do not correspond to the most updated dose”, in which the Ministry of Public Health and Social Assistance (MSPAS) was also consulted, if there were they are vaccines against the Omicron BA.4/5 variant, but have not responded.
ASTURIAS: STUDIES SHOW NOT MUCH DIFFERENCE
Asturias, after observing what Luna explained, told La Hora that “the studies didn’t show a very different neutralization” between the two updates and added that the immunizer used in Guatemala against Ómicron is also used in Canada and in Australia.
He added that BA.1 contains elasomeran and an additional mRNA molecule, imelasomeran, with instructions for making a protein from the Omicron BA subvariant.
While BA.4/5 contains elasomeran and an additional mRNA molecule, davesomeran, with instructions to make a protein from Omicron subvariants BA.4 and BA.5.
For Asturias, if the vaccines are updated against Omicron they give “high protection”, even if “while there is that component that is most similar to the variant that is occurring, the protection against that variant is better”.
Healthcare workers continue to benefit Guatemalans in the interior of the country, see expedition results here. #LaHoraDeActualizarnos 👇👇👇 https://t.co/QG9DNe6dbi
– La Hora Newspaper (@lahoragt) December 30, 2022
“PROGRESS”, SAYS ASTURIAS
Likewise, he stressed that using the updated BA.1 variant vaccine does not mean it is not an appropriate bivalent immunizer and qualifies it as “an advance” over the original immunizer.
Considering the low vaccination coverage in Guatemala, the epidemiologist highlights the use of bivalent vaccines.
THE PUBLICATION
Dr. Luna shared on his Twitter account that he had carried out field work at the Campo Marte vaccination center where he verified that the Moderna vaccine against Omicron BA.1 is being used. While the most up-to-date is the so-called BA.4/5.
The conclusion that Luna has reached is that “the MODERN bivalent vaccine that they are introducing in Guatemala (Oakland Mall and Campo Marte) is the reinforcement against Omicron BA.1, it is not the most recent and in fact in the USA what is applied is against Omicron BA.4/5″.
That’s why he recommended, “Anyone who can’t travel to the U.S. in the next 30 days and is more than 6 months since their last vaccine or two months after having COVID, get this from Guatemala.”
He also urged those who can travel in the next 30 days to “don’t wear that here” and to do so in the US.
